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Brett Anderson snakebitten immediately

Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images

By Cary Osborne

It’s hard to say what the expectations are of a pitcher who spent the first four and half months of the season on the disabled list. But you certainly don’t expect that pitcher to get hurt on his first day off it.

Such was the fate of Brett Anderson — one of the game’s unluckiest players when it comes to health (with eight DL stints since 2010 for elbow, foot, finger and back issues).

Anderson, making his 2016 debut after coming back from back surgery to repair a bulging disc, dove to try and snag a dribbler off the bat of Adam Frazier in the first inning. After a mound visit by Rick Honeycutt and assistant trainer Nathan Lucero, Anderson stayed in and got the final out of the inning, a lineout off the bat of pitcher Chad Kuhl.

It was the final batter Anderson faced in the Dodgers’ 11-3 loss on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. The left-hander was removed from the game for precautionary reasons with a mild left wrist strain. His line: one inning, five hits, one walk, five earned runs, no strikeouts, 30 pitches.

“(He) felt that it was sorta throbbing and couldn’t keep going,” said Dave Roberts in his postgame press conference. “So for us, day to day. We’ll see how it is and check in tomorrow with him and see how it responds.”

From the start, it wasn’t good.

The first batter Anderson faced, Josh Harrison, singled off him. Jordy Mercer then followed with a two-run homer. Sean Rodriguez later hit a three-run homer. Even Kuhl’s liner was a tough out, with Chase Utley having to climb the ladder to rob the pitcher of a single.

Anderson told SportsNet LA’s Alanna Rizzo after the game that after he got out of the first inning, his wrist stiffened up. He said the positive is there was no bone or ligament damage and he is hopeful to make his next start.

The Dodgers used seven pitchers in the game, including Brock Stewart, who was called up from Oklahoma City on Sunday. Stewart went three innings, and walked four, but held Pittsburgh to one run.

The Dodgers never mounted a strong comeback, putting up single runs in the first, fourth and seventh innings — including Joc Pederson’s home run in the fourth, his 18th homer of the season.

If the Dodgers would have come back to win the game, it would have been the biggest deficit (five runs) that they’ve overcome in a win this year. Instead, Baltimore made a big comeback on the Dodgers’ behalf. The Orioles trailed 7-1 in the top of the seventh inning in San Francisco before scoring seven runs in the final three frames to beat the Giants 8-7. The Dodgers remain one game behind the Giants for the NL West lead.

The Dodgers begin a three-game series in Philadelphia on Tuesday with Kenta Maeda on the hill, then Scott Kazmir on Wednesday.

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